


Two Halves

by Iamsoashamedofmyself



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Fridge Horror, Gen, Hearing Voices, Manipulation, Out of Body Experiences, Paranoia, Possession, Stockholm Syndrome
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:01:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28307940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iamsoashamedofmyself/pseuds/Iamsoashamedofmyself
Summary: He wasn’t sure when it started.Though it was easy to pinpoint when it became a problem: the moment it started making him do things without his permission — that was when he really should have done something. But pinpointing exactly when and where it came from... the farther back Dan thinks, the more paranoid he grows.
Relationships: Kevin is a really good friend tho, No Romantic Relationship(s)
Comments: 20
Kudos: 23





	1. His own voice

**Author's Note:**

> Hey. A few things before you read:
> 
> 1) I am fully aware that RPF is a bit of a touchy subject and that the lads might not be comfortable with fics written about them. I ask that you keep this in its own corner of the internet and out of their view.
> 
> 2) That being said, know that I am not writing Dan and Kev as true reflections of their real selves (aka I’m not saying they would actually do the things they do in this fic). Remember that these interpretations are characters and just vessels for story telling. 
> 
> 3) I’m not shipping anyone here. If you wanna interpret any characters as having feelings or whatever, go nuts. But it’s not my intention.
> 
> That being said, enjoy!

He wasn’t sure when it started.

Though it was easy to pinpoint when it became a problem: the moment it started making him do things without his permission — that was when he really should have done something. But pinpointing exactly when and where it came from... the farther back Dan thinks, the more paranoid he grows.

He had always been able to see it when he closed his eyes. At first, it was like a hallucination of warped and blurred lights behind his eyelids — a vague outline of a human, standing alone in the nothingness. Dan ignored it back then. He only thought it was a trick of the light, or he was seeing something that wasn’t really there. But the more time went on, the more he could make out the details on its face. 

It looked exactly like him.

It walked around that nothing-space: an alternate dimension, or a room where the walls, floor and ceiling were the same shade of greyish-brownish-red. It sauntered around, in boredom or perhaps a deep daydream.

That was the last time Dan doubted himself. After he could clearly make out the strange caricature of himself walking around, he finally gave in and googled the problem. But all that came up were mental health sites talking about trauma and flashbacks. Dan hadn’t been traumatised recently. Or ever, really. Certainly not in a way that involved... whatever the fuck this was.

He kept his eyes open, when he could anyway. Dan barely slept when that thing was around, because it would just sit and stare at him. It’s blinking looked far too fake and intentional, like it was trying to convey a message or idea. But there would only be so much time until Dan’s mind shut off, and eventually, he’d fall asleep.

Not tonight, though.

“Your name...” it said.

Adrenaline pierced through Dan’s stomach. The sound of its voice came from no particular direction inside his head. Even creepier was the fact that it sounded exactly like Dan; identical to the voice he heard when editing highlight videos or listening to a recording of himself. The figure opened its mouth, and sound echoed in Dan’s brain again. “It’s Daniel, correct?”

His eyes shot open, staring up at the near pitch dark ceiling above him, barely illuminated by moonlight. His heart began to race, skipping beats as if it were trying to play out a melody. “What was that? What the fuck was that?” Daniel thought to himself.

“It was me,” the strange figure said, even though Daniel could no longer see him. “Close your eyes. Look at me while I’m talking to you.”

Dan’s stomach churned. He considered getting up to wash his face or get a glass of water. Maybe grab a bucket before he regurgitated tonight’s dinner.

“Don’t do that. Look at me, Daniel.”

Goosebumps tickled his face and arms. His own voice demanding he close his eyes shouldn’t scare him as much as it did. He kept his eyes peeled open, scared of what might happen if he did. This was something out of a horror film. It was like there was a demon inside his head.

“I’m not a demon,” the voice said calmly.

Dan sucked in a huge breath. If it wasn’t a demon, then what the hell was it? A delusion? A hallucination?

“No, not those either.”

He bit the insides of his cheeks as an ill sensation stirred in his gut. It could read his fucking thoughts. It knew everything he was thinking. How the hell could it do that?

He shook the panic from his mind. Repeating the same phrase over and over in his head, Dan focused on the question “What are you?”

He could hear the voice smiling as it said, “I’m Magistrex!”

Magistrex? 

No, no, no. That’s not— Magistrex was just a character from his book. He wasn’t— He didn’t even look like—

“I’m not from your book,” it said.

Beyond the voice projecting directly into its head, Dan could only hear his shaky inhales and exhales of confused breath. “Then where are you from?” 

“Where else have you used my name that wasn’t in your book?”

Dan could feel his heart rate increase as the voice spoke with that awful cheery tone. What was this? Was this some sort of game—

“Game. You’re on the right track,” it spoke again, interrupting his thoughts.

“Fucking hell! Just shut up for a moment!” Dan growled quietly, pressing his hands into his face in frustration.

Magistrex. Magistrex... Why Magistrex? Why not anything else? And most importantly, where did it come from? Where did Dan use that name other than his book and Minecraft username? 

“Correct!” The voice echoed through his mind again, once again making Dan’s limbs jump.

He furrowed his brow, still staring at the ceiling. “My... my Minecraft username?” Dan thought.

“Almost. I’m a personification of all you have done in that game,” the voice, Magistrex said. “All the times you let people starve and let them fall to their deaths. That is what I am.”

Every sensation in Dan’s body disappeared. He felt his face go numb, and millions of screens flashed in his mind. The bedrock cube. Digging the hole. The players begging for food. The people advocating for freedom. The deaths...

“What the fuck,” Daniel thought to himself. His entire body felt as if it were going to sink into the bed. A terrible sickness swirled in his stomach and left a bitter taste in his mouth. His hands shook at his sides as they rested on the mattress.

When Dan blinked again, he saw a flash of Magistrex folding his arms with a knowing smirk. “What? Do you not understand?”

No? Of course he didn’t! How the hell did his Minecraft avatar get personified? Why does this thing only care about what he’s done in Minecraft specifically? And how the hell did it get inside his head?

“That doesn’t matter, Daniel,” Magistrex hummed.

“Yes, it does,” Dan growled aloud, in the silence of his bedroom. “I want to know who you are and how you got here.”

It laughed softly — the same laugh Daniel does when he’s relaxed. “I cannot do that, my friend. Though we temporarily share the same mind, I can’t risk you knowing my plans.”

“Plans?” Dan almost screamed, shooting up into a seated position. “What the hell do you mean by ‘plans?’ What are you going to do?”

“Shhh,” Magistrex whispered. The back of Dan’s head rested gently against his pillow. He found his eyes fluttering shut, as if he were about to fall asleep. He didn’t want to go to sleep — not with that horrible voice in his head. But he couldn’t bring himself to open them. As his consciousness drifted, the man who looked exactly like Daniel, with the royal blue coat and violet eyes whispered, “It’s time to sleep. You’ll be needing the energy, soon.”


	2. Curiousity

Magistrex wasn’t there when he woke up.

Perhaps that was a good thing. It made things a whole lot simpler; He could brush off the nights events as a silly nightmare, and pretend that he was truly alone.

Magistrex couldn’t hurt him. It wasn’t real. 

He was fine.

But paranoia followed Dan throughout the day. The thought that it — Magistrex — might be listening to his every thought, watching his every movement... Dan couldn’t say it didn’t bother him. He found himself trying to talk to it in the moments where it truly felt as if he were being watched. The uncertainty of not knowing whether it was still there ate a hole through his stomach, which grew with the passing hours. When Dan found himself unable to focus on his work, he focused on the words “hello” and “are you there”, reluctantly hoping it responded.

It never answered though. Maybe he was doing something wrong. After all, he still wasn’t sure if Magistrex could decipher his abstract thoughts or if it needed a question to respond to. Whilst it’s absence might have been a good sign, Dan could not doubt that he felt Magistrex’s presence within his conscience. Maybe this was his plan, if not only the first part of it: to make Dan question his own sanity and wait until he slowly drives himself insane, then strike when he’s most vulnerable—

“That’s not it.”

Dan recoiled and he dropped his plate. He shut his eyes tight, bracing for the loud crash of ceramic against tiles — but he barely heard it when he saw Magistrex, standing a few paces in front of him.

“Did I scare you? My apologies,” it said, only half sincerely. He flashed an amused grin at Dan before he could open his eyes. The sharp transition between seeing Magistrex in the void and his shattered plate of pasta on the floor almost felt like he had jumped between two entirely different dimensions. It seemed his world was full of whiplash recently.

He sighed, closing his eyes again. “What the hell do you want?” Dan growled in his head. “And where have you been all day? I was trying to talk to you.”

“I’ve been ignoring you, if you want to know the truth,” Magistrex responded. “Were you just trying to get my attention, or did you have a question in mind?”

Daniel’s mind raced to search for something — anything — to ask. Could it read his thoughts? How did it get in his head? Was it going to stay there forever? How could he get it out?

But he couldn’t quite form the words. They sat in his head, half baked and abandoned as Dan opted to say a simple “No.”

“So you only wanted to see if you could summon me?” Magistrex asked with more curiosity than Dan was comfortable with.

“No—” Daniel said hesitantly. “I don’t want anything to do with you... I’m just...”

“...Scared?”

Dan’s chest tightened. The sound of his own heartbeat echoed in his ears and his knees became weak. Magistrex said it. It said exactly what Dan was too afraid to admit. He almost would have preferred it if he declared it himself, because Dan didn’t find any comfort in the fact that Magistrex knew what he felt. 

Magistrex smiled at him warmly, though.. “There’s nothing to be afraid of,” it said.

Biting his lip, Dan watched Magistrex step slowly towards him, and—

He felt a hand on his shoulder.

“I could help you clean up that mess, if you’d like.”

Dan seemed to stutter in every aspect of the word: his body flinched upon feeling the phantom hand on his skin — his real, physical skin. His legs refused to carry him elsewhere. Confusion and fear swirled in his head, as dread washed over each half-complete thought. 

Magistrex could help him. The idea of that was so foreign — so vague that Dan wished he could run away and hide from the voice in his head, and yet...

He couldn’t. Not necessarily because he couldn’t physically move himself away, but because he was curious. How exactly could the non-corporeal presence which Dan could only see when he closed his eyes help him clean up this mess? How would it lend a hand and help pick up the tiny pieces of shattered plate and mop up spilt sauce?

Magistrex raised his eyebrows at Dan, who had lost focus. “Well?” It said, casual in its tone. “You’re curious, are you not?”

Dan felt time paused for a moment, as if someone were giving him a sign to stop and think. Really think. He doesn’t know what Magistrex wants. He doesn’t know what it will do. But the nagging curiosity in the back of his mind begged Dan to take the risk. Maybe... Maybe he could just see...

“How do I know you won’t hurt me?” Dan said aloud, opening his eyes and scanning the kitchen.

“I wouldn’t gain anything from that,” Magistrex responded. “If you die, I die. So I may as well help you clean up this hazard.”

Hmm. Dan pursed his lips, staring back down at the mess of pasta and plate pieces. It stared back at him, reminding Dan that he would have to spend the next five minutes scooping sauce off the floor and picking up sharp pieces of ceramic.

But... Magistrex.

What would it feel like?

“Okay. On one condition,” Daniel spoke. Upon closing his eyes, Magistrex was revealed to be standing before him with a surprised expression on his face. “If I tell you to stop, you have to stop. Got it?”

Magistrex nodded. “I understand. Shall we get to it then?”

This was a horrible idea.

“Yes.”

Daniel suddenly felt all the muscles loosen in his arms; the type of relaxation that would usually leave them dangling at his sides. But they were moving. They were moving despite Dan not telling them to. His hands moved to hold themselves out in front of his face, turning as if Dan had never seen them before. The disconnect between himself and his own limbs sent a wave of sickness through his stomach, and for the first time in Dan’s life, he felt his jaw tremble with nervous excitement.

“Crouch down,” Magistrex commanded. 

Though Daniel hesitated, he didn’t exactly have a reason not to do as it asked. It wasn’t as easy as he hoped it would be, lowering himself down without the balance his fully-controlled arms could have given him. But on their own, one hand hand moved to stable himself on the side of a chair, as the other carefully moved to pick up shards of the plate.

Odd. They moved on their own.

“Is that you doing this?” Daniel thought to Magistrex.

“Yes,” It responded. “I temporarily have control over your arms. I know it’s not much, but it’s all I can do.”

When the bigger pieces of the plate were safely cupped in his hand, Dan moved towards the bin and let the pieces fall in.

“We need a mop,” Magistrex said as Daniel stared absently at the bin. 

Dan nodded and walked towards the bathroom, letting Magistrex open up the cupboard which Daniel told him contained the mop. When Dan walked back to the kitchen, he stopped.

“Hey, Magistrex?” He thought.

His arms froze where they were, then lowered to his sides. “What is it?” Magistrex asked.

Dan’s mind halted for a moment, and an internal battle waged war in a space Magistrex couldn’t quite reach — or perhaps just wasn’t commenting on.

Carefully, he thought, “Can you take over my legs, too?”

It left a short silence. “I could,” It responded, and Dan didn’t know what to think of the concern that laced his voice. “Would you like me to?”

No.

No, he doesn’t.

He doesn’t need this.

This isn’t right.

It’s not normal.

He shouldn’t be experiencing this.

But he still wants to.

He wants to know.

What it’s like.

To let it take over.

To not have to do anything.

To let it do everything for him.

...

“Yes. Go.”

He feels as if he’s floating. It’s like he’s asleep, but so horribly awake at the same time. Every sound and touch and movement assaults Dan’s mind, as it seems to be all he has left. His arms move on their own — his legs do, too. He turns his head to look around the room as Magistrex runs the rest of his body on auto-pilot.

It’s so incredibly horrifying, and yet he loves it.

Dan finds fascination in how Magistrex conducts him like a machine; a master puppeteer leading a toy around the stage, each movement precise and practiced. Perfect technique taking him all around his apartment, watching only as an observer while his body takes care of everything. 

Once the mess is cleaned and the things he used had been put away, Magistrex takes his body over to the sofa and sits him down. And as he lets go, Dan feels as if bricks have been strapped to the ends of each of his limbs. He feels his bones press against the cushions and dig into his flesh. His body is so terribly heavy, it’s crushing. But after wiggling his fingers and stretching his legs, he feels the relief of relaxation spread as if he is being decompressed.

“So?” Magistrex hummed.

Dan quirked his eyebrow. “So what?” He asked.

“How did it feel?”

Strange. Scary. He had no control over that situation, and yet he put his complete faith in Magistrex. Or perhaps he was overreacting. Maybe there was nothing to fear.

“It was... fine.”

Magistrex hummed an acknowledgement, and Dan closed his eyes to look at him.

“Well,” it said, arms folded and a content smile on its face. “If you would like my help again, I would be more than happy to provide it.”

Dan ponders lightly — only for a moment.

“I’ll think about it.”


	3. Bodily Integrity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning for descriptions of pain and mentions of death... this chapter gets... interesting.

It takes a few weeks, but Dan gets used to Magistrex being there.

As much as he hates the idea that this might not be so bad, it is nice. It’s always so quiet in his apartment, and Dan really can’t stand being alone. Magistrex fills the void just a little. Their banter is few and far between, but every so often Magistrex will make an unnecessary comment which sparks a short conversation.

“You wouldn’t have as much trouble lifting that if you exercised more,” it said, watching Dan rotate the PC on his desk, dragging the heavy case with all his might. 

He took the screwdriver and began to unscrew the back panel. “Oh, shut up,” Dan heaved. “I know I’m not the fittest guy in the world, but I don’t have the time to exercise.”

“You would if you went to bed and got up earlier.”

Dan stood up straight and closed his eyes — it was something he had gotten used to doing when talking to Magistrex. He frowned at it. “Why do you care? Just ‘cause you’re stuck in my head, doesn’t mean you can tell me how to live my life.”

“All I’m saying is that you would see a lot more daylight if you stopped going to bed at two a.m,” Magistrex grumbled and crossed its arms.

Dan rolled his eyes before leaning over his pulled apart PC again, unscrewing one of the components carefully.

It was times like these that Dan was thankful for; the ones where Magistrex is passive and it’s company puts Dan at ease. Its presence didn’t often seem like a big deal these days, and considering it had only been a week and a half since they first interacted, Dan considered that a win.

He wasn’t afraid of it anymore... well, actually, that’s quite not true. Dan still found the whole situation to be a bit frightening when he sat down and thought about it — which is why he stopped thinking about it. Perhaps it was a bit irresponsible, but Dan forced himself to remain ignorant towards the strangeness of this situation. Trying to make sense of why this was happening only made him worry more. As far as Dan was concerned, he was safe.

Because really, what could Magistrex do if it had ulterior motives? Hurt Dan? No. If Dan dies, Magistrex dies too, and it’s not stupid enough to do that. It wouldn’t gain anything from hurting someone else either, because it’s not like Magistrex knows anyone that it would benefit from killing. And a step up on the social ladder is worthless to someone who is unable to interact with anyone.

Dan was confident in his ability to keep Magistrex in check, anyway. It only ever took control of his body when Dan asked him to, and always stopped on command as well.

Maybe that’s why he let it happen so often.

It was just easier to let Magistrex take control. He took much better care of Dan’s body than Dan ever would, anyway. From his point of view, there were no drawbacks to the system they had worked out; Magistrex got to keep himself occupied by doing mundane tasks for him, whilst Dan didn’t have to commit himself to making dinner each night. Magistrex did a lot of the things Dan didn’t want to do: dishes, laundry, cleaning, all that sort of stuff. He didn’t seem to mind those things — Hell, maybe he even enjoyed it. Magistrex never complained about it, so Dan sure as hell wasn’t gonna stop him.

It was mostly about the convenience; Dan didn’t have to worry about taking care of himself. He didn’t burn his hand trying to light candles anymore, because Magistrex never let that happen. He never got any paper cuts when flicking through his notebook, since Magistrex was so careful. Hell, he even made time in the day to make sure Dan exercised — and Dan didn’t have to do a damned thing! All he had to do was sit back and watch as his body pushed itself to its limits, without any of the drawbacks that come from actually working out.

But it’s not like Dan was dependent on him.

Yes, as the weeks went on Dan let Magistrex have control more frequently and for longer periods of time. But who could blame him? Some people would kill to have a seperate conscience to help them take care of themselves. Depression is a persistent motherfucker and Magistrex seemed to be the antidote to that. He listened to Dan’s worries. He helped Dan take care of himself. He did everything Dan wanted.

There was only one disadvantage to their whole situation: Dan couldn’t taste anything while Magistrex took control, which was such a shame considering that he had made some of the most delicious looking food Dan had ever seen in his life. He also couldn’t feel pain, but that was something Dan didn’t mind losing. The amount of painkillers he took to keep the pain of his bad lung at bay simply weren’t needed anymore. 

But like all things, it got boring eventually.

It often felt like he was watching a movie; an incredibly dull one that played on loop forever. Nothing Magistrex did excited him. Dan couldn’t count the amount of times he would see something from the corner of his eye and think “I want to do something with that,” only to shut himself down as he remembered that even if he told Magistrex to do it, Dan wouldn’t actually gain any entertainment from watching it happen without his input. 

Dan realised soon enough that this wasn’t what he wanted: he didn’t want his entire life played out for him, like a story that droned on and on without any stakes or tension. He missed the sense of accomplishment that came with problem solving and carrying out a solution. He missed the mental stimulation that came with recalling the simple procedures of how to make pasta, and reaping the rewards of a delicious meal. 

There was only so long Dan could stand being a bystander without any input. Sure, Magistrex left the commentary during streams and all-things-talking up to him, but he wanted more. He wanted to feel his muscles tense as he squeezed his controller in frustration. He wanted to see the world react to his presence. He wanted to really feel like he was the one who controlled everything. Not Magistrex. 

“Magistrex?” Dan said as Magistrex sat his body on the couch, staring at the tv.

Magistrex hummed inattentively. “Yes?”

“I wanna have control, for like... I dunno, an hour or so,” he droned on.

His eyes were forced shut, revealing the confused look on Magistrex’s face. “What for?”

“I’m just bored,” Dan complained. “I wanna do something.”

Magistrex’s brow furrowed. He placed his hands on his hips. “Daniel, if you wanted to be entertained, you could have just asked.”

“No,” Dan insisted. “I wanna do something myself.”

Magistrex’s expression slowly darkened, and Dan met his glare with equal intensity. “Fine,” he grumbled. “Go do what you need.”

Opening his eyes, Dan wriggled his fingers and toes, feeling the long forgotten sensation of free movement tingle under his skin. He pushed himself onto his feet, only wobbling slightly after he stood up...

It may have been a while since Dan had full control over his body, but the transition was never this easy; He always had to take a moment to catch his breath before he could move freely again. But this time, it was almost as easy to stand up as it was to think, and Dan could tell by the lightness in his limbs that Magistrex hadn’t quite done as he demanded.

“You’re still holding on,” he growled in an accusatory manner.

“No I’m not,” Magistrex rebutted. “You’ve got enough control to do what you want.”

Dan’s face scrunched up. “I don’t just want ‘enough control’. I want the full thing.”

“Why does it matter?” Magistrex asked, false obliviousness coating his voice.

“Why does it matter?” Dan sneered. “I wanna do things by myself! I don’t want you holding me back!”

Magistrex laughed — honest to god, Daniel heard Magistrex laugh in the forefront of his mind. “Oh, I’m holding you back?”

Uneasiness creeped its way into Dan’s stomach, as desperately as he tried to ignore it. He was certain that no matter what Magistrex did, Dan would always come out on top, because this was his body. But the way Magistrex laughed at him did not sit right at all... 

“Right. I’ve been nothing but a burden, haven’t I?” He chuckled — but the sound didn’t echo in Dan’s head anymore. It wafted around the room, as Dan’s vision blurred and dizziness overtook him. “You want full control? Fine! Take it!”

His body slammed against the floor like a doll thrown during a child’s fit of rage, his head ricocheting off of the solid ground. Pain rippled through his skull. Every single muscle he had was violently assaulted with a wild, burning sensation that distributed themselves evenly but generously around his frail body. All of his organs seemed to halt for a split second, confused by the sudden change, before they struggled to catch up using the little energy Dan had left. His senses were flooded, but they could barely register anything at the same time. Without the energy or strength to keep his eyes open, they fell shut, and—

Magistrex wasn’t there.

Dan couldn’t see him anywhere.

“Magistrex?” Dan thought desperately, focusing as hard as he could on the words which threatened to slip from his mind. 

“Hm? What was that?” Magistrex hummed. His voice — his voice wasn’t in Dans head anymore. It was somewhere else. Somewhere around him.

He could barely bring himself to grit his teeth as his eyes brimmed with tears. Pain echoed in his torso and shot through his limbs without Magistrex there to conduct the automated functions of his body. It seemed to be struggling as much as Dan was when Magistrex let him have full, unassisted control. With every thought Dan tried to force into his mind, his head throbbed relentlessly. “Please...” Dan pleaded, too distracted by the pain to form a coherent sentence. 

“Sorry, my friend,” Magistrex said. “I can’t quite hear you.”

Dan gathered all his energy and focused it towards his arms; they trembled as he pressed against the rug to no avail, and Dan's chest remained flat against the floor. His lungs begged for freedom — they needed space to refill. 

Dan couldn’t— He couldn’t breathe. His lungs— They hurt so fucking bad. 

His heartbeat boomed weakly in his ears. He felt as if he were being spun around, his stomach threatened to purge and his vision refused to cooperate. He didn’t feel in control of his own body, despite the fact that he could feel everything and taste a horrible sourness in his mouth and all the pain everywhere — it felt as if his mind were trying to sever that connection on his own. It was all fighting against him.

A cracked sob escaped him, with sharp spikes of pain piercing his dry throat soon after. Dan forced his eyes open; It was all he managed to do. All he could do was struggle to stare at the scuffed rug his damp face had been buried in.

Half his attention was focused on the slurred cries for help he repeated in his head, as he desperately tried to save the necessary energy and courage to lift his head. “Magistrex— I can’t breathe... it hurts...”

Magistrex scoffed, and Dan could almost imagine the smirk on his face, relishing in the sight of Dan suffering without his help.

In desperation, Dan forced himself onto his elbows, groaning over the horrific pain his shoulders protested with. With his head held parallel to the floor, he risked collapsing again, if only so his lungs could steal one more shallow breath; so his heart could beat twice more. “I can’t—” Dan whimpered breathlessly. “You have to help me...”

“You’re going to have to speak up, Daniel.”

Dan’s quivering voice spilt out, weak and unprepared. “Please!” He cried.

“I can’t hear you!”

Tears spilt down his face as he let his head fall limply, and he let out a sharp cry from the pain that clawed at his neck and shot through the back of his skull. His eyes squeezed shut without his permission, and he wished he could say it was Magistrex’s doing. “I’m sorry! I’m— I can’t handle it!”

There was a brief silence — a short moment that lasted forever, in which Dan felt every cell in his body cling desperately together; a last ditch attempt to keep him alive. He wouldn’t survive this. Not when his mind could barely conjure up instructions for his failing body, which simply lacked the strength to carry them out. No other event in his life had caused such a primal fear of death or what laid beyond it. Nothing else in his life made his bones, muscles and head hurt with such unrelenting ferocity. It was like an unorchestrated harmony of every natural disaster striking the earth at once. His body was starting to give in, resorting to a cowardly self destruction. He was going to die soon. He was going to die. 

...

“Alright,” Magistrex hummed.

Dan almost choked as he tried to register those words. “Wh— what?” he sputtered, his mind drawing a blank.

Magistrex’s voice pierced through his foggy mind. “Open your eyes, Daniel. Look at me while I’m talking to you.”

With shaking forearms, Dan heaved his head up and pried open his eyes. Fighting against his own weight, gravity, and relentless pain, Dan forced himself to focus as best he could on the hallucination of warped and blurred lights a few feet ahead of him: a vague outline of a human, standing alone in his apartment.

“There you go,” the man smiled knowingly. “Quite difficult, is it not?”

Dan stared at him — the hallucination — in his living room. His boots rested against the carpet, though the threads sprouting from it remained completely undisturbed. He left no shadow — no impact on the world.

He... he wasn’t real, was he?

The man held out his hand, standing tall above Dan. Dan could only just match the movement of his mouth with Magistrex’s voice. “Here,” he said. ”if you take hold of my wrist, I will save you.”

Dan immediately reached out his arm, stretching out desperately to reach the hand hat he begged would come closer.

“Nuh-uh-uh,” Magistrex shook his head, smirking. “I’m not going to move any closer to you.”

“Magistrex—” Dan breathed. His voice was nothing more than a whisper, yet he had to push it out with so much effort and force. “Please... I can’t—”

“Do it, Daniel,” Magistrex muttered with a fully bared grin. “If you don’t want to die, show me how much your life means to you.” 

Tears spilled from his eyes with every fresh whimper, only a fraction of the pain being from dragging bare skin across the rough carpet. Each muscle screamed at him to stop. It was a desperate plea to give up and move on; let him die here so he would never have to go through anything like this again. 

But Dan couldn’t. Not when Magistrex held his hand out so willingly, not when salvation was just within his grasp.

Using all of the little energy he could muster, Dan reached up for Magistrex’s arm. 

His hand clung to the mirage. There was no physical body beneath it; yet, Dan felt the undeniable pressure of a hand wrapped around his own wrist. Just as Magistrex became visible to him, he faded into a wisp of dim light.

Relief showered over him. His breathing— no, _Magistrex’s_ breathing was heavy. Daniel could feel the movement of his body, but the breeze of cold that rushed down his throat and the ache of full lungs were not present. The pain he was burdened with became tame and quiet, making Daniel wonder if it even existed in the first place.

Magistrex stood up, brushing down his crumpled clothes with relative ease. Each step he took towards the bathroom was precise and prideful, as if he won a game of chess he had spent a long time preparing for.

Magistrex stood in front of the mirror and grinned at himself. Daniel saw through his eyes, with the unshakable feeling of dread located nowhere in his body. He looked at the face he used to own, which was smiling a smile that wasn’t his. It wasn’t him. This didn’t belong to him anymore. 

_**“Oh, Daniel. What on earth made you think you were ever in control?”** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be two seperate chapters, but when I struggled to write the third chapter after writing the fourth, I just said “screw it” and smashed what I had of the two together.
> 
> Don’t ask for the scrapped third chapter, because holy SHIT it is bad


	4. His Possessions

Daniel supposed that this was his life now.

In all honesty, he saw this coming — and thought he was an idiot to have done what he did. He shouldn’t have let his curiosity get the better of him. He should never have let Magistrex take control of the one thing he truly owned. He shouldn’t have walked so willingly into the blatant trap. Yet despite his criticism of himself, Daniel couldn’t bring himself to be mad; not at himself, nor at Magistrex. 

It had been almost two months since Daniel last felt the physical symptoms of emotion. Now, he mostly just felt a pensive melancholy, as he watched Magistrex go about his day. It used to be Daniel who got up in the morning and ran through his routine, before starting up a stream and messing around with whatever game struck his fancy in the moment. The nostalgia of it all ached, since he didn’t really have a choice but to watch through Magistrex’s eyes. 

It was strange being on the other end of the stick. Back when he used to have his own body, Daniel never once stopped to question what it was like from Magistrex’s point of view. But now that he is trapped in the brownish-red darkness himself, he fully understands why Magistrex wanted to get out. 

It was terrifying, but Daniel’s newfound apathy kept him from feeling most of its effects. The form he walked around that space with was light and completely numb, not that he expected much else. If Daniel closed his “eyes,” he could see through Magistrex’s vision, like one of those horrible VR games Magistrex played frequently on stream. He preferred it to keeping his eyes open, though. At the apparent centre of the ever expanding space, stood a rigid statue which came to life when Magistrex closed his real eyes. The statue resembled neither of them in particular, yet shared many similarities with the two, and Daniel couldn’t begin to comprehend why that was. The stiff strands of hair which sprouted from the statues head was styled the exact way he and Magistrex had, and its facial structure mirrored the both of them, too. Yet Daniel couldn’t recognise the white dress shirt and purple vest it wore. And it’s reserved, brooding posture had an uncanny-valley effect when paired with the form of a man who he knows smiled often.

He couldn’t quite tell the difference between those anymore — the physical being Daniel thinks he called his own, and the one he once associated with Magistrex. Regardless of how much he confused their physical appearances, Daniel knew that he had been reduced to nothing. But he didn’t quite know if Magistrex was still Magistrex, or if he had fully adopted the identity of Daniel Condren.

Daniel Condren...

That name echoed in his thoughts like a persistent case of déjà vu. He had heard the two words put side by side before. Daniel knew what it referred to as a pair, but individually... it meant very little to him.

“Daniel” was the easier concept to grasp: it referred to him. The thoughts he had and the name Magistrex let him keep. On the few occasions that Magistrex needed his attention, the name “Daniel” was what he used. Yet, despite the association between the word and himself, it meant nothing more. There was no personality associated with that label. No desires, no history. Just his thoughts, and the conscience that remained with him.

But then there was “Condren.”

Condren... _Daniel_ Condren... 

No, it wasn’t right. That wasn’t his surname anymore; a name like that couldn’t belong to him. Daniel himself was nothing, and that name held the weight of the world. It was the parent to so many other aliases and nicknames: RTGame, Dan, even silly ones like the Drift King. Daniel didn’t own any of those either, despite a lingering attachment to them. Magistrex was the one who got associated with those nowadays, because Magistrex was still here. Living in the real world. And Daniel was a forgotten man, one who had been forced to surrender and accept defeat.

Because, really — Magistrex had won. He got what he want: which was a body all to himself. Daniel would have almost been happy for him, if it weren’t for the fact that he was the one who got locked in a comatose-like state because of it. He had to give it to the man, it was quite a feat to trick someone into giving up control of their body of their own free will. Dan probably deserved it for being so stupid, anyway.

He never quite understood why Magistrex didn’t just get rid of him. He wanted to ask, “why not get rid of me if I’m not contributing?” but could never summon the courage to do so.

Maybe he was afraid that Magistrex would kill him — that he would take the question as a suggestion, and tear Daniel’s conscience to shreds before he could protest. At the same time, he was somewhat flattered by the fact that Magistrex didn’t just toss him away once he got what he wanted. Magistrex let him live — and for that, Daniel would be eternally grateful.

He kept reminding himself of that. Even after the ways Daniel had treated him, and the journey Magistrex took to get to this point, he still let him live. Maybe earlier on, Magistrex did it simply so that he wouldn’t die too — after all, both of them needed a fully functioning body to survive. Yet as time went on and Magistrex took full control of the body, he never once threatened to cut the last thread of life Daniel clung to. He owed Magistrex for that, even though he could never repay him.

Because of that, he vowed to keep himself out of Magistrex’s way. It was the least he could do. He didn’t speak unless spoken to, never asked him to do anything, and rarely questioned his actions. Magistrex never asked him to do those things, either, but his silence on the matter was enough thanks for Daniel. 

Though one day, as Magistrex was cleaning out storage that Dan had previously forbid him from touching when he still had control, he stumbled upon a box of knick-knacks.

It was a small, blue, plastic container with no label — but Daniel never needed a label to know what was in that box. More than a dozen small memories, immortalised in physical objects laid huddled in the almost dust free compartment. Some were scraps of paper; plane tickets to countries he remembers fondly, or Polaroid photos of friends he misses dearly. There were also simple trinkets which told complex stories: a pair of blue and white gloves knitted by his late grandmother, which have since been retired to keep them from falling apart. And also his lanyard from the last convention he went to, which he got signed by everyone he could, from his content creator friends to people he looked up to.

Magistrex peered into it for a moment and then closed the lid, tossing it to a pile he had deemed as “the throw away pile.” Daniel almost gasped.

“Wait,” he said impulsively.

_**“What?”** _

Daniel hesitated, shocked by his own lack of self control. “I—” he paused. He should just say it’s nothing and let it go. It’s not like this mattered. “Can you... can you please not throw that away?”

Magistrex turned to look back at the pile, examining the dusty mountain of blank notebooks and unused stationery.

_**“Throw what away?”** _

“That box,” Daniel said. Despite not having felt a heartbeat for months, he was acutely aware of the passage of time, told by the beats that echoed in his mind. “Please don’t throw it out.”

_**“Why? It’s junk.”** _

It’s not junk. “I know it might look like it, but... a lot of those things were gifts,” Daniel says, his mind going back and repeating himself when he can’t decide on the right words. “They mean a lot to me, okay...”

Magistrex takes the box from the pile and opens it up. He picks up a small Whimsicott keychain. He holds it close to his face and examines it closely, toying with the broken clasp mechanism before letting it rest in his palm.

**_“I don’t get it. This is useless.”_ **

“Yes! It is,” Daniel quickly agrees. “My best friend got that from one of those Gachapon machines while she was visiting me in Japan — you know, the ones that dispense toys and stuff in those little capsules?” He starts rambling, his mind searching for ways to convince him. “When she saw that it was a Whimsicott, she gave it to me because that’s my favourite Pokémon. But, the clasp broke and I didn’t want to lose it, so I put it in here to keep it safe.”

Magistrex looked back down at the keychain, bringing up his other hand to play with the clasp as he thought.

_**“You kept a broken keychain?”** _

Yeah.

He did.

Daniel saw the keychain from Magistrex’s point of view. The cheap plastic was scratched and stuck out around the edges where the mould was clearly separated, and the sloppy paint job leaked onto parts of its body where it shouldn’t have been. The thin, tightly woven string had begun to fray slightly from friction with the cheap metal clasp, and Daniel frowned to himself.

All these years, that chunk of plastic had been sitting in a plastic box under his bed, wasting away alongside the other piles of nothing, which were more akin to scrap than anything useful.

But still, he didn’t want to throw them away. No matter how useless a used plane ticket from years ago was, he was always gonna keep it. Daniel could never bring himself to throw something like that away.

But Magistrex could.

“Just...” Daniel started, struggling to find the right words. “Do what you want with it. It’s your stuff, anyway.”

**_“I know it is, Daniel.”_ **

After letting the keychain fall back into the box, Magistrex snapped on the lid and placed it back in the throw-away pile. He finished sorting through his belongings as Daniel watched dejectedly. His mind lingered on the plastic box, containing memories he made ages ago. He struggled to remember what was even in the box in the first place. He saw it just a minute ago. But he couldn’t remember. He knows those two gloves were important to him somehow, yet he couldn’t recall why.

When Magistrex was done, he gathered all of the things he put in the junk pile and discarded it into a garbage bag. Even as he took it down the elevator of his apartment building, Daniel’s remained still. It was fine. He could deal with it. It didn’t matter.

Magistrex dragged the garbage bag outside and towards the back of his apartment building, where there was apparently a dumpster. Daniel couldn’t remember one ever being there. 

And as he watched Magistrex throw it in, Daniel remained silent. He wouldn’t question it — Magistrex knew best. Daniel was sure of that.


	5. Apathy

  
Daniel gazes down blankly at his hand, sifting through his fragmented memories in search of an answer. It wasn’t always like this, was it? He was sure his hand used to be distinct and clear, but that doesn’t seem true now that it is blurred and misty. At first he thinks it’s the fault of his vision; that he is focusing on the nonexistent ground below him rather than the hand he was half heartedly sticking out. 

Daniel shifts his head to look at his other hand, which is mostly intact. Whilst his left hand still has the same form as one of Magistrex’s, it lacks the detail of wrinkles around the joints, or lines etched across his palms. His right hand is much worse off. It seems to be slightly opaque, like a wisp of light which is huddled around where his hand is supposed to be. He doesn’t have the coordination to form solid fingers.

He looks up and sees the statue of Magistrex shift slightly, coming to life as he closed his eyes to sleep.

Daniel shifts on his feet idly, staring solemnly at the statue which opens its eyes and stares right back. Abstract thoughts swirl around Daniel and soak into his soul. He wants to talk to Magistrex, but can’t bring himself to do it.

_**“Are you okay?”** _

He hears the voice waft around him, and it doesn’t register immediately. Once it does, he ignores it under the false assumption that Magistrex was talking to himself.

_**“Daniel.”** _

His ears perk up. “Yes?” He responds weakly.

_**“How do you feel?”** _

Daniel’s eyes wander the void as he tries to summon an answer. It doesn’t matter what he says, he just needs to give an answer. “I... don’t know,” his voice trails off.

Magistrex stares at him. Daniel doesn’t bother trying to read the blank expression on his face. 

**_“I hope you feel alright...”_ **

Daniel can’t feel the tension on his face, but his brow furrows. “Why?” He asks with only a hint of curiosity. It pushed the limits of what he could give.

_**“As much as I want you out of my way, I don’t want your death to be painful.”** _

He takes a moment to process the long sentence, then looks down at his feet. “I’m going to die?” Daniel repeats quietly. He doesn’t say it like it is a life or death situation; it’s more like he’s trying to get clarification for a trivial story he hasn’t been following.

Magistrex nods.

_**“Yes. You are.”** _

Oh. Well, it was to be expected. There wasn’t a lot that Daniel did these days — or even a lot to remember. Most of the things he did remember were things he would eventually relearn time and time again: the layout of the apartment, the password to Magistrex’s computer and Twitch channel, and facts about the people Magistrex often played games with: the Irish lads, as they were called.

_**“Daniel?”** _

“Yes?” He responds almost instantly. The hazy thoughts of things he swore once meant something to him were strong — strong enough to make him feel weak. “I’m sorry, I got distracted.”

Magistrex nods slowly, his eyes still stuck to Daniel. He frowns.

_**“...I’m sorry too, if it means anything to you.”** _

Daniel asks, “Why would you be sorry?” Because really, he has no idea as to why Magistrex would need to apologise. The words don’t even sound real, echoing around him. It sparks a slight confusion in him, which fades quickly.

_**“I know how awful it feels to be in this state. If there was something I could do to make it more bearable, I would. I do owe you my life, after all.”** _

“No you don’t,” Daniel says firmly. It comes out more forceful than he knew he could do. “I’m the one who owes you. You... you didn’t kill me when you could have.”

Magistrex gazes at him for a brief moment, and then sighs as he shakes his head.

_**“I pity you, Daniel. I wish I didn’t, but I do.”** _

“That’s okay,” Daniel says meaninglessly. Truthfully, he has no idea what Magistrex even means by that. “We… we’ll both be fine.”

The words linger but leave no weight in the air. Both Magistrex and Daniel stare at each other; their eyes are locked, but whatever message Magistrex is trying to send to Daniel isn’t being received. He stares blankly, waiting for another sentence to respond to.

_**“Okay.”** _

Magistrex says. His mouth remains open, and Daniel stares at him, waiting patiently.

_**“You know, Kevin is coming over for Twitch con in a few days.”** _

Daniel has to search through a mental dictionary before he can begin to understand what Magistrex just said. “Twitch” and “Kevin.” The former referring to a streaming service, the latter referring to a coworker of Magistrex’s — perhaps even a friend. “Con” is usually a shortened way of saying “convention.” A Twitch Convention with Kevin. Daniel nods after he manages to comprehend it. 

_**“If you hold on for a few more days, you could see him one more time... before you go. Just… as a goodbye gift, or something.”** _

The words shoot through Daniel, and he thinks that might be a cue to be scared. Or sad. Maybe happy? He doesn’t know. Magistrex’s words confuse him all the same.

“Okay,” he replies quietly.

Magistrex nods.

_**“Okay...”** _

There is silence. It’s one that is clearly making Magistrex uncomfortable, but Daniel couldn’t begin to list why. They are emotions — ones that seem far too complex and unwarranted for Daniel to comprehend. 

Magistrex averts his gaze suddenly. He stares at the floor with an intensity even he is not familiar with. 

He hesitates, but eventually, Magistrex opens his mouth to let carefully chosen words fall out in a whisper. He says:

_**“Goodnight, Dan.”** _

Daniel doesn’t respond.


	6. The Puppeteer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long! I tend to go in and out of writers block very quickly and suddenly, so I put off writing until I was sure I could make something high quality. Hope you enjoy 😊

The day comes around and Daniel feels the exact same — “the day” refers to Kevin’s arrival in Dublin. He is barely aware of the passage of time, only taking note of the routines Magistrex partakes in. They blur together regardless of if he pays attention, though; any notable events which are out of the ordinary are forgotten by the next day. It’s for that reason that he is less keen on night time. Daniel feels so many things that he shouldn’t, and he has to wait for Magistrex to fall asleep before he can return to a comfortable state of nothingness.

Daniel doesn’t know what to expect from Kevin. There are vague recollections of a face, seen only in pictures from the waist up, but Daniel could not describe him if he tried to. Half because he cannot picture Kevin himself, and half because the pictures he has seen are often inconsistent.

But Daniel finds himself overtaken with curiosity regarding that man. It rarely lingers in his memory, but what he sees of Kevin in the moments that Daniel can observe him are peculiar: his kindness comes and goes between bouts of villainy, both of which are equally as intense. His history is filled with wild, seemingly made up events which string together to form a story akin to that of a novel. His voice ranges from horrible shouts and grotesque noises to wonderful singing. He is a man of extremes, yet it causes no discomfort for Daniel.

Somehow, the more he thinks about it, the more Kevin makes sense to him. Daniel knows that without context, Kevin would be a man he could not stand to be around. Someone that confusing and extreme would run Daniel’s mind into the ground as he tried to comprehend it all. But simply knowing that it is Kevin negates any strong feelings of disgust. 

He wonders if he ever knew Kevin before. Maybe there was once a time where he and Kevin talked face to face, and Daniel wasn’t stuck observing the man through the foggy glass of Magistrex’s perspective. Kevin is too familiar for it not to be true, but at the same time, Daniel can’t remember much more than his name.

Before he knows it, there is a knock on the door of Magistrex’s apartment.

“Kevin!” Magistrex cheers as he opens the door. “It’s good to finally see you!”

“Hey, good to see you too!” The man outside responds. Daniel guesses that he must be Kevin, he does match the hazy memories of pictures Daniel had seen. 

He is only a few inches taller than Magistrex, yet it still feels as if Kevin towers over him. Magistrex’s frame was extremely thin for a person of his height, even with the frequent exercise he did. Kevin looked to be about a healthy weight, though: a relatively good balance of height and muscle.

“It’s been forever, man,” Kevin sighed happily as Magistrex makes way for him to come inside.

Magistrex shuts the door and goes to stand beside Kevin, who leans on his parked suitcase. “I know — You haven’t seen my new apartment yet, have you?” He asks. 

Daniel finds discomfort in the way Magistrex speaks — but it’s not as if Daniel had never heard him speak before. Magistrex did so almost daily, streaming and chatting to people over the phone; store clerks and bus drivers when he went out. But there is something about the way Magistrex and Kevin talk that unsettles him.

“I’m pretty sure I have, actually,” Kevin corrects Magistrex as he looks around. “I think I was here last Christmas, when we got the lads together. We all got absolutely hammered.”

A flickering image escapes Daniel before he can fully grasp it: four other men in the apartment, all of which are people he is familiar with. He’s sure he once knew who they were, yet Daniel cannot find any information on them in his memory. Even if he could, they fade too quickly for him to look into it. 

It’s not long before he forgets.

“Really? I don’t remember that,” Magistrex chuckles, which earns a sudden laugh from Kevin.

“I wouldn’t blame you! All of us had massive hangovers the next day,” he says as he shifts on his suitcase, which still rests behind him in the centre of the living room. 

“I mean, shit. I wouldn’t be surprised,” Magistrex groans playfully. “I’m a bit of a lightweight.”

Kevin nods with a smile. “Ah, it’s alright. Nothing to be ashamed of,” he says. “It’s nice to be here, regardless. Where’d you want me to dump my stuff?”

Magistrex looks around the room. “Um, give it here. I’ll put it in my room,” he says, holding out his hand to take Kevin’s backpack as he stops leaning on his suitcase.

“You sure? It’s pretty heavy,” Kevin responds, and Daniel isn’t sure if he’s teasing Magistrex or warning him.

Kevin passes the bag over to him though, and Magistrex takes it with one hand and minimal struggle. Kevin’s eyebrows perk up a bit, and he says, “Jesus, you’re getting strong.”

“Huh? Oh, I suppose I am,” Magistrex responds bashfully. “I started working out a bit more this year. It’s not anything serious.”

“Well you look good, man!” Kevin smiles, giving him a pat on the back. “Maybe our boxing match won’t have to be on Wii Sports. We could do it in real life!”

Daniel’s mind is bombarded with thoughts and feelings that don’t seem connected to each other, even though it feels like they are. He remembers a playful rivalry between himself and someone he knew. There is a sharp pain somewhere on his left knuckle, and a sense of pride from a trivial accomplishment...

Why did he feel that?

“Dan?” Kevin says, and Magistrex’s eyes meet with his confused expression. “You still here?”

“Uh-huh,” Magistrex murmurs. “I just... I just had a thought.”

“Yeah, most people have those,” Kevin jokes, dropping it quickly.

Magistrex laughs weakly before he takes Kevin’s belongings to his bedroom, leaving the other man behind to loiter around.

After Magistrex shuffles the heavy suitcase against the wall in his bedroom, he returns to find Kevin in his kitchen, searching through the cupboards.

“Kevin? What are you doing?” Magistrex asks sternly.

Kevin swings his head to look at him with wide eyes, which then dart to the other end of the room. “Shit, um,” he starts, mildly panicked. “Where do you keep your paper towel?”

Magistrex casually edges closer to him, still careful to keep a couple of feet’s distance. “What do you need it for?” He asks in return.

“Look, don’t panic,” Kevin says, standing up and closing the door to the cupboard he was digging around in. “But there’s a spider. It’s on the floor, right by your sofa.”

Magistrex turns around to look at his sofa. Daniel can barely see the black speck on the ground, and a strong sense of dread flows through him. 

“Oh, that’s okay,” Magistrex says calmly. “I’ll get rid of it.”

Kevin’s mouth opens but doesn’t immediately make a sound. “Are— are you sure? I could do it, if you want me to.”

“No, it’s alright,” Magistrex replies as he takes the bug spray from the cupboard under the sink, along with a sheet of paper towel.

As he walks towards the black speck, the details on it grow more and more visible, and—

Daniel feels himself shaking. He doesn’t have a physical body to tremble in, but he can feel the frenzied and irrational thoughts move him as if he really did. The sight of the spider unnerves him — No, unnerve isn’t the right word. He isn’t mildly uncomfortable, he is downright petrified. If he had any control over Magistrex’s body, he would surely freeze up if he couldn’t bring himself to run away.

But Magistrex handles it fine. He sprays the grotesque arachnid and follows it as it tries to scamper away. Before it can make it to the base of the bookshelf, Magistrex takes a swift step forward and stomps on it. 

As he bends down to wipe its remains off the hardwood flooring, Daniel hears a soft and slow clapping from beside Magistrex. “Wow,” Kevin says, eyes wide with a weird mixture of pride and shock. “You handled that really well.”

Magistrex glances at him as he takes the scrunched up paper towel to the bin. “Well, yeah, it’s only a spider,” he shrugs.

“Only a spider?” Kevin smiles. A soft huff escapes him. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say that.”

“Heard me say what?”

“That it’s only a spider,” Kevin chuckles, dumbfounded. “I remember when we played Grounded with Sean, you were scared shitless at the thought of them.”

Magistrex glances away from him, much to the dismay of Daniel's curiosity. “I don’t see your point. Besides, that was ages ago,” he says. There’s a hint of reluctance behind his voice that seems to confuse Kevin as much as it does Daniel.

“Well, it’s just that last time I knew, you were terrified of spiders. And now, suddenly you’re not,” Kevin laments. The way Kevin says it inspires a horrible feeling within Daniel, but he isn’t able to tell why.

“Isn’t it good that I got over that fear?” Magistrex asks him blandly.

“Of course it is. It’s great,” Kevin smiles sadly. His enthusiasm disappears as he reaches up to rub the back of his neck. “It’s just that... I dunno. It seems like you got over it so quickly. You never even told me.”

Magistrex quirks an eyebrow. “So? Does it really matter if I tell you or not?” 

Kevin looks at him with a small pout and sad eyes — they always looked sad, even in pictures where he was surrounded by friends. Only now, Daniel could really sense the sadness. “I mean, it matters to me,” Kevin says reluctantly.

Magistrex huffs and turns away from the bin, heading back to sit on the sofa. “Well, that’s a bit selfish of you.”

Kevin shakes his head in bewilderment. “What? How is that selfish?” He laughs, though he obviously doesn’t find this funny.

“What happens in my life is none of your business,” Magistrex says with hostility. “Why do you even care what goes on in it?”

Kevin stammers, dazed by astonishment. “Because you’re my fucking friend? I don’t wanna see bad shit to happen to you. I wanna be able to help you when you need it!”

“I don’t need help,” Magistrex snaps, glaring at Kevin from his seat.

“Well shit, it doesn’t sound like it,” Kevin huffs as he glares back defensively, though there is a glimmer of uneasiness in his eyes.

“If anything, you’re the one who needs my help, since you can’t watch your fucking mouth!” Magistrex spits. His hand is firmly gripping the armrest, soft fabric curving to the will of his strained fingers.

Kevin stops. He stares at Magistrex intently, and for a moment, Daniel wonders if Kevin could possibly be staring at him. “...What the fuck, Dan?” He sneers quietly in disgust.

“Just shut the fuck up, Kevin,” Magistrex growls. “I’m so sick and tired of you invading my goddamn privacy all the time.”

“What?” Kevin hisses, demoralised. “All I was trying to say was that I’d be there for you if you need me!” 

“Well I don’t need you, Kevin! I’ve been handling everything fine by myself!” Magistrex shouts as he stands up. His brow twitches from how hard it is pressed together.

“That’s bullshit!” Kevin scoffs. “You can’t even control your temper!”

Magistrex’s eyes pierce through Kevin, enough to make it clear that this has gone too far. “Oh! You think I have no control over myself?” he says. 

Kevin looks back at him with... fear. And for a moment, Daniel feels it too. It is fleeting, but that’s when Daniel suddenly feels part of this situation; he is no longer a bystander, but a witness. He is a witness to the blinding and unjustified rage that glazes over Magistrex’s face as he stomps forward furiously. “You stupid bastard — I’ll show you some fucking control!”

Magistrex snatches away Kevin’s arm and grips his wrist tightly. His skin turns white under the crushing pressure, and his arm shakes from the sudden impact and sheer panic. Without time to think, Kevin jerks his arm away and yanks Magistrex forward, who loses his footing as Kevin’s fist clenches beside him.

It is a swift, uncoordinated motion,; one that hits Magistrex square in his cheekbone and sends him straight towards the floor. It happens too fast for Daniel to know he has witnessed it. It happens too fast for Kevin to stop himself.

But when Magistrex’s head hits the hardwood flooring, Daniel is bombarded with painful amounts of information. His vision turns to a bright static and sounds screech around him. A blunt sting assaults the left side of his face as the rest of his body follows with smaller blasts of pain. Everything inside him suddenly feels so real, as if he had unlocked access to something once forbidden to him.

All at once, everything falls dark and silent. His mind weighs heavy on him as he tries to focus on the distant cry of someone near him.

“Holy fuck— Dan!” The voice says. It is muffled and soft, though Daniel can tell it is not a whisper.

“Fuck. Fuck! I’m so sorry,” it says again.

It sounds closer. And clearer. Daniel can barely see around the dark nothingness that he was already accustomed to.

He takes a moment to adjust, still hearing the soft pleads by someone on the outside. He slowly looks towards the statue of Magistrex, expecting to see him staring back.

But he’s not.

The statue looks... different. It’s so much smaller than he once knew it to be — around half Daniels height, to be more specific. He takes a few uneasy steps closer, trying hard to focus on the bits of light that glimmer around it.

He reaches out to touch one of the thin bits of light, and feels an equally thin thread between his fingers. His eyes adjust fully, and Daniel can properly see the many shiny strings hanging off of the statue. They wrap around his wrist and ankles, tied tight to its body with strong knots.

“Are you okay? Dan?”

He listens to the voice outside. He doesn’t know who it’s talking to, yet it seems important nonetheless. Daniel feels the unexplainable urge to tug on the strings of the statue.

Hesitantly, he tightens his fingers around the wire and leads it away slowly until it is pulled tight against the rough marble of the statue.

The arm follows his movements.

“Dan? Dan! Open your eyes.”

Daniel doesn’t know why the command seems familiar to him. A hazy memory visits him again; though this one has a deep rooted fear attached to it, and Daniel feels urged to follow suit.

He reaches one of his hands towards the face of the statue, pushing its eyelids open with two fingers. Suddenly, he can see the man — Kevin — leaning over him and shielding his eyes from the bright ceiling light. 

Kevin flashes a small glimpse of relief before his face morphs back into distress. “I need you to talk to me, Daniel.”

Daniel...

Daniel?

“Daniel!” He stammers suddenly. “Yes, I’m— that’s my name. My name is Daniel.”

Kevin’s shoulders slump as relief washes over him once again. “Oh thank god,” he sighs quietly. “Are you okay? Are you... stupid question, but are you hurt?”

Daniel stares at Kevin blankly. Looking up at him, Daniel realises that he shouldn’t be here. He shouldn’t be talking to Kevin — let alone speaking at all — and anxiety stews in his gut for the first time in ages.

“Daniel.”

“Yes?” He responds, reluctantly snapping back to the real world.

“Do you know who I am?” Kevin asks him, as if he were repeating himself.

Daniel gazes at him for a moment. He knows; at least, he has an idea. Vague visions dance around his mind with echoes of voices waltzing alongside them. They are — what’s the word... they’re... memories. Memories of Kevin that Daniel can’t view fully, nor tell if they belonged to Magistrex or himself in the first place. He wonders if Magistrex is letting him see them, but he can’t imagine this would be something he’d be okay with.

“I know that...” Daniel trails off, lingering half way between the real world and his own thoughts. “... your name is... Kevin.”

Kevin nods, but it is not encouraging. His brow furrows slightly as he bites the inside of his lip. “Okay, that’s good. But are you hurt? You didn’t answer me before.”

Daniel looks up at him. “You didn’t ask,” he says blandly.

“Yes, I did,” Kevin insists, tension pressing his brows together.

Daniel lets his head roll to the side, gazing curiously around the somewhat familiar room. His eyes gloss over the bright white walls and dark furniture, wondering why he feels so uncomfortably alone. “I didn’t know if you were talking to me or not,” he hums in response.

“Who else would I be talking to, Dan?”

There is a man laying on his side with his back turned towards Daniel. He is undisturbed by the rest of the world, and it seems that the world is undisturbed by him. 

But his blue coat seems familiar. The soles of his boots are immaculate, having never once stepped foot in the dirt. The back of his head is not something he has seen before, yet Daniel can only describe it as being exactly like his own.

“Dan? Dan!” Kevin calls out to him, though Daniel doesn’t register it. Hell, he barely even hears it with how many thoughts are rushing through his mind.

That can’t be.

He should be—

“Magistrex?” Daniel says hesitantly. Hearing Magistrex’s voice saying Daniels' words churns his stomach. 

Kevin shoots him a confused glare. “Who?” He asks.

“Magistrex.” Daniel repeats, but not to Kevin. The man on the floor shifts slightly, an inaudible groan that Daniel was sure he heard emanating from his direction. “Wake up. You need to come back.”

“Wait, what the hell are you talking about? Who are you talking to?” Kevin borderline shouts, his frustration and confusion blending into a weird mess of emotion. Daniel doesn’t bother trying to unpack it.

“Please, get up,” he pleads, crawling shakily towards Magistrex. His movements are uncoordinated, and he feels as though he is on the verge of collapsing. It feels like he is still standing with his eyes closed, pulling the strings of a marionette as he observes through its eyes. Daniel hates it. “I need you to take back control.”

Magistrex pulls himself up. His palms press flat onto the wood flooring as his back arches up, head hanging low. 

“Magistrex! Here!” Daniel calls out weakly. Magistrex turns his head, though his face is hidden by a loose mop of hair — not that Daniel would have wanted to see his glare of disapproval.

Magistrex holds out his arm. His hand is wide open, ready to accept whichever wrist falls into its grasp. Daniel reaches out.

“No, stop!” Kevin shouts out, quickly moving to grab Daniels shoulder. “Daniel, what the fuck are you doing? Where are you going?”

He turns to look Kevin in the eyes, and in that moment, he’s not sure who he fears more: Kevin or Magistrex. He can see the desperation in Kevin’s eyes; it’s not something he can blissfully ignore. He fears not knowing what Kevin might do or how he would react. But he can also hear Magistrex’s intimidating groans beside him, a haunting reminder of the much more recognisable threat.

“I just need to get Magistrex back in control,” Daniel says quietly. “I don’t know what happened. Ask him when he comes back.”

Daniel can barely hear Kevin’s last shout as something tight wraps around his wrist. He is stripped of every sense quicker than he can process them leaving him.

Within the blink of an eye, his vision goes dark and he cannot hear even the staticky buzz of silence in his own ears.

The world around him slowly fades back in. Not the world Magistrex inhabits: the dark nothing-space that Daniel finds familiarity and safety in. He lets out a sigh of relief, though it does nothing to alleviate the tightness in his chest — in fact, he’s not sure if it’s even there anymore.

Daniel looks around the abyss, catching sight of the statue again. It had reverted back to its previous size, matching Daniels height. Yet the strings around its limbs still remain, and they lure him like a snake.

Daniel resists, though. He closes his eyes and tunes in to all of Magistrex’s senses.

“Dan?” He hears Kevin say quietly. But it is a clear type of quiet. Not like the shouts which were filtered by his inability to hear.

Magistrex groans as he pushes himself to his knees. “Kevin?” He says deliriously.

Kevin stays silent for a moment. If Magistrex would push the hair out of his face and look towards him, Daniel would be able to at least try and read his expression. But Magistrex’s eyes stay trailed on the floor. 

“... Are you okay?” Kevin asks carefully. “Do you feel... different?”

“I feel dizzy,” Magistrex says. He runs his hand through his hair and pulls it away from his eyes, wincing at the new brightness.

Daniel can see Kevin nod slowly from the corner of his eye. He doesn’t seem as... pushy as he was before. His softness towards Magistrex confuses him.

“What happened?” Magistrex asks.

Kevin doesn’t respond immediately. Daniel almost feels as if it were a figment of his imagination, because Magistrex doesn’t seem to notice. “You passed out,” Kevin says, reaching out to help Magistrex to his feet. “I’ll go get you some water, just go take a seat somewhere.”

Kevin isn’t as present as he once was, and it makes Daniel uncomfortable. Partially because he can’t tell what is going on in his mind, and partially because he would have never been able to tell before.

Kevin is eerily quiet as he helps Magistrex up. He doesn’t even help him make his way to the sofa.

Eyes pierce through the back of his head, and yet it doesn’t seem to bother Magistrex one bit. Is he okay? Can he feel it? Does he even notice? Before Daniel can summon the courage to address it, Kevin’s voice shoots through the silence behind them, and what he says sends a flurry of memories rushing back to Daniel.

“... Magistrex?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I keep extending how many chapters this fic has but I PROMISE THERE WILL ONLY BE TWO MORE CHAPTERS!!!!


	7. The Trigger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “I won’t be adding anymore chapters!” I say, splitting the current chapter into two and adding ANOTHER on top of what I originally planned. 
> 
> I can’t be trusted : )

It all comes rushing back to him. Snippets of core memories that have always lingered in the back of his mind suddenly make themselves known, as Kevin’s voice echoes through his head. He lets the memories flow through him, absorbing each and every detail as if he were in the moment. 

A blue plastic box lays before him. The mere sight of it sparks joy within him, as he searches through each of the treasures which contain pieces of his life and valued memories. 

He feels a soft rug under his body. Despite the comfort he knows it should have brought, there is an excruciating pain associated with it. It is one that spreads throughout his frail body.

There is a shattered plate beneath him. It lays at his feet, fractured and spread across the floor, demanding to be dealt with. Lethargy spreads through him as he stares down at the mess.

He feels his head lay gently against a pillow. The relief of sleep washes over him, though not nearly as relaxing as it should have been, as he wakes up anxious the next morning.

Those are Daniel's memories. They belong to him. Though they never really left him in the first place, Daniel is reminded of just how important they were to have. They were proof that he once lived; proof that he was more than just the original owner of this body. He had his own wishes, his own thoughts, his own belongings, and a name bestowed upon him by his friends and family. His friends.

Kevin was one of those friends; he was the man Daniel went from admiring, to rivalling, to befriending. He and Kevin were partners in crime — an inseparable duo who always stuck together, even when caught between another group.

He remembers now who he shared those drinks with on Christmas Eve: Sean, Brian, Daithi and Kevin — his found family of Irish lads, who were always down for a group stream. They were more than just people he worked with: they were friends, just like Stuart, James, Chloe, and Laura. It was Laura who gave him that Whimsicott keychain. The same one that Magistrex deemed redundant and worthless. The person Magistrex persuaded him to forget.

There was so much more to his life than what Magistrex led him to believe. Daniel was not weak or incapable: he was kind. He loved freedom and trying new things. Maybe he was a bit soft and cowardly, but rarely a pushover. He never let Magistrex do anything he didn’t want him to do. He gave Magistrex permission to take control over his body. He gave him permission to do so again once he was desperate and in pain. 

Magistrex persuaded him to give permission to throw away his most prized belongings. That bastard tricked him, and Daniel feels tears well up in the eyes he blindly believed were still accessible to him.

So when he hears Kevin call out the name of a man who lives his life as an imposter — the name of a man who doesn’t belong in this world, nor Daniel’s body — he is suddenly reminded of who he is. He remembers what it was like to live a meaningful life, taking each day as it presented itself, rising to any challenge no matter how difficult, and taking the time to enjoy the simple, quiet moments. It wasn’t about keeping things easy. It wasn’t about automating the tedious tasks.

Daniel feels something he hasn’t felt in a very long time: burning desire. It’s a fiery feeling that crawls up his throat and urges him to scream; not in rage or sorrow, but as a war-cry. His mind clears of the fog that once plagued it, and for the first time in forever, he is able to focus on one clear goal. One that Magistrex cannot sway him from pursuing:

To take back what rightfully belongs to him.

Daniel closes his eyes, finding himself in the dark nothingness for what he hopes will be —no, what he will make the last time. He looks around the abyss and wonders how on earth he settled for this. 

He casts a quick glance towards his hands. They look exactly how he hoped they would: not misty and transparent like before, but sharp, detailed, and exactly like the ones on his body. 

He looks up to see the statue of Magistrex, just as tall as him and baring those enticing strings around its wrists and ankles. The fiery feeling builds in his chest and rises to his throat again, and Daniel has to stifle a gleeful laugh from slipping through his teeth. He has had enough of being the puppet. Now was his turn to play as the puppet master.

He takes a few long strides forward towards the statue, but is quickly pulled from the silence he thought belonged all to himself. Through the ears Magistrex controls, Daniel hears him breathe a quiet, yet threatening question: “What did you say?”

Daniel pauses. There is a low growl to Magistrex’s words which unnerves him. The sound brings the vivid image of a dog baring his teeth in warning to his mind, and Daniel can’t help but worry. He is tempted to close his eyes and assess the situation going on outside the confined space in his mind, but holds himself steady. He can’t get distracted. Daniel resolves to listen in on the conversation as he moves himself in front of the statue.

He hears Kevin’s anxious voice for the first time since truly waking up, saying, “I said... I said your name.” The way he summons enough confidence to speak assertively inspires Daniel, and he hopes Kevin possesses the same motivation he does. 

“My name isn’t Magistrex,” he responds quietly, much too calm for Daniel’s liking. “My name is Dan.”

“Then why didn’t you respond when I called you that?” Kevin says as sternly as he can. Daniel can almost feel his heart split in two as his voice cracks.

Despite total disconnect from the real world, Daniel can feel the air get caught in Magistrex’s throat as he repeats the information back to himself. “Huh?” Magistrex breaths, barely audible and beyond confused. “When?”

As Daniel wraps one of the strings around his wrist, connecting the left arm of the statue to his own, he wonders if Kevin's punch knocked Magistrex out like any normal human. Did his body pass off control to Daniel when Magistrex lost consciousness? Did he not hear anything Daniel said to Kevin? Does he... does he not know that Kevin is aware something is amiss?

“After I knocked you out, you...” Kevin says, starting off so confident. “You got up and started acting weird. And if I didn’t call you Daniel, you wouldn’t listen to anything I said.”

“What?” Magistrex says, and it’s possibly the most human he has ever sounded. The sheer confusion he must be feeling from not knowing what’s going on makes him feel so flawed to Daniel, almost making it seem like Magistrex was human.

No — Daniel knows better than to feel bad for him. He shakes the thought from his mind and focuses on wrapping the sting of the statues right hand to his own.

“Don’t you remember?” Kevin says in an accusatory tone.

“No!” Magistrex exclaims. “You said I fainted!”

“Then I guess that makes both of us liars,” Kevin says. 

“I’m not lying about anything!”

“Then prove it!” Kevin shouts with more ferocity than Daniel can say he has ever heard in his life. It shakes him to his core to hear such a brutal tone from a friend he always considered to be kind and gentle. “Tell me why you wouldn’t respond when I called you Dan! Why you were acting completely different after I punched you!” 

Kevin’s shouts burst through Daniels concentration as he struggled to tie the final knots on his wrist. “You were so spacey when you woke up, and you kept saying that Magistrex needed to be in control! Who the hell is Magistrex?” He yelled, desperation seeping into his voice.

Daniel pulled the final string tight, strengthening the triple knot he tied. The thin wires that bound him to the statue dug into his wrists as he pulled both of its arms forward. The entire world came to a halt...

But the statue didn’t even budge.

Daniel tugged at its arm again. The string strained as he tried to forcefully drag the hand towards him, so much so that Daniel feared it would snap.

“Fuck. No, come on,” he murmurs to himself as he pulls more and more. This was supposed to work — if this didn’t work, what else would? What other options did he have? 

Then, he hears a murmur from Kevin. 

“What are you doing?” He asks Magistrex cautiously.

The arm of the statue seems to pull back against the strings. “Nothing,” Magistrex stutters. “My arm is just— it’s playing up.”

Daniel stares at his hands.

...

It’s working.

It’s _working_!

He grabs one of the strings with both hands, and drags the arm of the statue upwards. Though there is little feedback to be seen through his puppet, Daniel is sure it affects his real body.

He closes his eyes for a brief moment and sees his arm stuck out at an awkward angle. And from the corner of his eye—

Daniel can see his phone in Magistrex’s pocket. His mind pounces on the idea: take his phone and type a message to Kevin. He needs to tell him that he’s okay, that he’s trying to fight back, and to thank Kevin for waking him up.

Daniel grabs at the statue's forearm with his bare hands and pushes it down with all his strength. He looks through the eyes of his real body and sees his hand reaching into his pocket — just as he wanted!

“I don’t understand,” Kevin says. “What the hell is going on?”

Magistrex growls furiously, and the sound is music to Daniels ears. “Nothing is wrong!” He snaps “Everything was fine before you— before...”

Daniel pulls the phone from his pocket and punches in the passcode with a single finger — he’s lucky Magistrex didn’t change it, let alone that he remembered what it was. He quickly navigates the home page. The grip Daniel has on the statue's wrist is like that of a pencil, and for a moment it feels as if he has control — maybe not direct control over his real body, but it is control nonetheless.

Just as Daniel opens the notes app, he feels something push back against his hands. The statue starts to become even stiffer than it was before, and his mind races anxiously. He struggles against the statues rigidity and Magistrex’s pushback, typing sloppily and quickly. He prays that Kevin will be able to read through the typos littering his message.

The statue seems to squirm under his grip, and just before Daniel can finish, the phone slips out of his hands.

“No!” He cries out desperately, though his words are lost to the abyss. The phone clatters against the floor, and Daniel opens his eyes quickly. He stomps on one of the statue's feet and hugs its waist tightly. 

He closes his eyes again and finds Magistrex half hunched over, reaching for the phone to no avail.

Kevin snatches it away instead.

He backs off an stares at the screen, furrowing his brow at the cryptic message reading: “Im ttying to figch bav.” Kevin’s eyes dart upwards, and he looks at Magistrex with a confusing mixture of disbelief and horror. 

“Dan? Daniel, was that you? Did you write this?” He stammers in shock.

“Yes!” Daniel exclaims into the darkness, smiling to himself.

“No! It wasn’t!” Magistrex shouts. “Forget about it, Kevin!”

Dan grabs the back of the statue's head and pushes it forwards and backwards. The bobbing of his head is vomit inducing, regardless of his lack of a stomach, but it gets the point across.

“Jesus Christ...” Kevin glances back down to the phone with his mouth agape, running his hand through his hair before he steps towards Magistrex. “Look, I don’t get what’s going on, but is there something I can do? How can I help?” He says urgently, insistently shoving the phone back into Magistrex’s hands.

Daniel darts to grab the statue's arm, but Magistrex slaps the phone away before he can even reach it. The crunch of broken glass echoes through his mind, and Daniel comes to a complete halt.

 _Fuck_!

What the hell was he going to do now? There was no way Daniel had the coordination to make Magistrex walk. He couldn’t go get the notepad and pen from his desk. He had no clue as to how to use Magistrex’s voice. He was out of ideas and all his options were long gone. Fuck!

“Kevin, you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into,” Magistrex says through gritted teeth. He was still stiff and hunched over, half from Daniels grip on the statue and half to keep Daniel from puppeteering him any more.

“This is beyond your jurisdiction,” Magistrex warns. His eyes dart around the room and he can’t help the crazed grin that creeps onto his face momentarily. “If you dare lay a finger on me or even think about getting involved, I will not hesitate to kill you. That is a promise.”

Daniel holds his breath as his grip around the statue tenses subconsciously. He doesn’t doubt for a second that Magistrex could… he could kill Kevin, if he really wanted to. The fact that Kevin is physically stronger than him means very little to Daniel, as he is well aware how much more dangerous Magistrex’s smarts are. He watches anxiously as Kevin looks him up and down with consideration, and then, a sickening understanding. For a moment, Daniel hoped that Kevin would just turn and leave, then and there.

Kevin looked Magistrex dead in the eye, delivering an unspoken message to Daniel: he was going to do this, no matter what. Even if he didn’t quite understand who he was up against or the dangers involved… Kevin wasn’t going to give up on Daniel. Not yet.

Kevin opened his mouth, words lingering on the tip of his tongue as if Magistrex had a knife held against his throat. But after a summon of bravery which Daniel could never bare himself, Kevin says, 

  
“Daniel, do I need to knock you out again?”

Magistrex’s eyes widen. “No!” He shouts commandingly.

Daniel quickly smacks the back of the statue's head, which jerks forward before Magistrex can stop him. 

“Fucking bastard!” He spits.

Daniel raises his arm in the air, fist pumping in a celebration he had unknowingly longed for. It’s when the statue violently jerks backwards and he falls that his prideful grin is wiped clean from his face.

His eyes flinch shut, and in that brief moment, he sees Magistrex making a quick dash between Kevin and the wall beside him, narrowly dodging a carelessly thrown punch.

Daniel watches in awe as Magistrex weaves between furniture and keeps ample distance from his pursuer. He is quick and agile — extremely agile — enough so that Kevin has to pause momentarily to regain his footing.

Magistrex is too fucking fast for him. Kevin has to give up on the cat-and-dog chase, and the game of Daniel's life quickly devolves into Capture the Flag; with Kevin playing as a defender, and the door to his apartment being the flag.

Daniel opens his eyes, the image of Kevin’s fighting stance still burned into his mind as he dives for the statue's legs. One of them comes far too close, far too quickly.

He feels a phantom pain under his chin as a boot connects with his face. Daniel recoils from the impact, before his head is slammed down to the ground, pinned there by a heavy foot.

_**“You fucking bastard! You told him, didn’t you!”** _

The voice booms from above him, and much louder than he expected. Daniel grits his teeth and raises an arm to swipe at Magistrex’s leg.

He yanks with all his might, gripping firmly around the statue's ankle. Magistrex stumbles and the pressure on his skull is lessened. Daniel rolls out from underneath him and hurries to bring himself to his knees, watching as Magistrex falls down to his own.

“Shut up!” Daniel yells with a grimace. “I don’t want your “help” anymore!”

Magistrex turns to Daniel, brushing hair out of his face to reveal piercing eyes.

**_“Who cares if you want it! You need me! You are hopeless without my help!”_ **

Daniel grits his teeth. He lunges towards Magistrex, grabbing his arm and raising his fist. Magistrex holds him at a distance as Daniel shouts, “Well I’m not your fucking toy! I’m not some tool for you to use, or— or a product that you can just change!” 

Daniel thrust his arm forward and snatches the collar of Magistrex’s coat. A burning power flows through his body as Daniel shoots him one final glare; it holds all of the built up hatred and despair that Daniel couldn’t even feel because of him — because of Magistrex. Daniel dedicates the look on his face to his memory, so he may taste the sweetness of revenge whenever he cared to recall it. Daniel roars, “I’m going to fucking get rid of you, and I don’t care if I die trying!” 

His fist hurtles towards Magistrex, coming mere centimetres away from his face before it halts against his will.

_**“Enough!”** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need to give a big thank you to my beta/editor, who has given me so much great advice on how to improve this fic. She’s a god among men.


	8. The Second Half

There is a brief moment of nothing before his entire body spasms — Daniel’s real body. It collides with the floor before he can even acknowledge the fact, as explosions of pain batter his limbs and head. What he can see of the hardwood floor is blurred and painfully bright, as his vision spins out of his control. His ears screech as his skull slams against the floor, with every subtle sound amplified to a horrific level. 

The taste of vomit coats his mouth as his stomach coils. He makes a desperate gasp for air as he gags involuntarily, and his lungs contract to a dangerous degree. He chokes on his breath, the stomach acid only making it halfway up his throat. He coughs and splutters with gasping breaths, as someone above him shouts. It sends a deafening, incomprehensible roar through his foggy mind, and his skull echoes the pain throughout his body.

Daniel lets out a sharp but weak cry, which attacks his body in much the same way. He slaps his hands over his ears and presses down hard. It’s enough pressure to make it feel like he could shatter his own skull.

His eyes squeeze tight, yet tears still leak through his eyelids, suddenly rushing down his face like a burst dam. Even the soft trickle of water running over his skin feels more like dozens of needles piercing through his flesh and sending electric shocks around his face. 

Something grabs Daniel's shoulder, and he screams. The grip is unimaginably strong, as if it were ripping through his flesh and tearing apart his skin. Something booms in his ears, and though it is horrifically painful, they almost sound like words.

Fatigue demands Daniel to rest — to just submit himself to the relentless pain and sit in it for a moment. His hands fall limp at the sides of his head and his eyelids barely separate, giving him a narrow but glaring view of the outside world.

“DANIEL! WHAT’S WRONG?” An unidentifiable voice roars above him. Exhaustion weighs so heavy on him that he can’t even bring himself to flinch in fear. He lays there like defeated prey, ready for the jaws of doom that await him.

“DAN? IS THAT YOU, OR IS IT MAGISTREX?”

The wool that fills his mind feels as if it is burning away. Who would ask a question like that?

Kevin.

Kevin would ask that.

He barely manages to crack open his eyes the slightest bit more, and through the stinging light that fills his vision, he can make out a familiar silhouette and reddish-brown hair.

“SAY SOMETHING, PLEASE!” Kevin begs, tightening his grip on Daniels skin and shaking him—

“Stop!” He cries out pathetically. His throat stings as he gasps to replenish the air he impulsively forced out of his lungs. Kevin’s hands quickly retract, but instead of being graced with relief, he feels as though his flesh crackles like lighting as it returns to its original shape.

“Don’t! It hurts—” Daniel whimpers. What little of his voice he can use is raspy and weak, sounding more like a forced wheeze than actual words.

“I’m sorry!” Kevin gasps. Even though the sound pierces through his brain, Daniel can only internally flinch at it. “It’s— It’s you, right? Give me a sign, please.”

The pain that spreads over the side of his body which is pressed to the floor is too overwhelming for him to force a command through, no matter how simple; and it feels as though gravity is too strong of a force for him to try and move his other side.

“I can’t— I’m sorry,” he whimpers as more tears run down his face, leaving a trail of sharp pin pricks in their wake. “It hurts— so much.”

Colour makes its way back into his blurry vision, as the vague silhouette of the man kneeled beside him moves. “What’s going on? What’s happening?” Kevin asks, his voice trembling horribly.

“Killing me—” Daniel forces out quickly. His lungs send a stabbing pain around his chest as punishment, which batters against his heart. He gasps for breath against his own wisdom, and tries again to speak. “Magistrex let go. He’s killing me.”

Daniel can vaguely see Kevin’s mouth open, yet no ear-piercing words come out. He leans closer to Daniel and lifts up his face with one hand. Pain dissipates from the side of his skull as it rests in the plush cushion. Kevin stares into his eyes for a long time, and though Daniel can see him, he can’t receive whatever unspoken message Kevin is trying to send him.

“Can you see me?” Kevin asks wearily, but Daniel can’t take another blow to his throat and lungs. He nods weakly; it’s a slight movement, but it’s one that Kevin notices, as Daniel's head rests entirely in his palm. 

“What do I do?” Kevin asks, and it sounds as if tears sit on the edge of his eyes. A sharp pain stakes through Daniel's heart, and his abs contract as he flinches. His inner organs stir and knot, twisting small bursts of pain throughout him. Kevin’s voice barely rises above Daniels cries of agony. “Please, tell me how I can help...”

_**“Surrender.”** _

Daniel barely registers the voice, opening his eyes in pure confusion.

_**“Tell him to surrender.”** _

It’s Magistrex.

He’s still here. Daniel wants to sob. He doesn’t want anything to do with Magistrex anymore. He wishes he could erase him from existence and heal as slowly as he must. But Daniel knows better than that; he knows that Magistrex has his head placed under a guillotine — that he’s making sure every moment is agony for him — and that there’s nothing he can do to stop this.

He gathers air into his lungs before he says simply, “Give up.”

“What?”

“He says,” Daniel gasps, letting a long sob slip past his lips. “He wants you to surrender.”

Kevin hesitates before he shakes his head rapidly. He lowers Daniels face back to the ground, and the ache of hardwood flooring settles back into his skull. “No. No— I’m not giving up on you!” He winces.

“Just do it,” Daniel breaths defeatedly. He hasn’t got the energy to fight Kevin on this one small thing, and it reminds him of just how hopeless he is against Magistrex.

“There’s got to be something else,” Kevin insists. Daniel drags his gaze to Kevin’s face, watching as tears bead around his eyes and his bottom lip curls.

Daniel closes his eyes and shakes his head, despite all the pain.

For a moment, everything is silent — save for the few sniffles that Kevin sucks in. Daniel takes this moment to rest in a painful peace. Magistrex isn’t even behind his eyelids. He’s still there, that much is true, but it feels as if he has completely abandoned Daniel and left him to the everlasting loneliness of his own mind.

But Kevin’s frail voice pierces through the darkness.

“Magistrex...” 

Daniel opens his eyes, silent sniffles shaking his body, the only indicator he’s still alive.

“Magistrex,” Kevin says with scary amounts of determination. “You can have my body.”

The words are unreal to him. They linger in the back of his foggy mind and he sorts through them, stringing them together before the sickening punch of realisation slams against Daniels chest.

“No—” he gasps desperately. “Kevin, no.” It pains Daniel to remember the smile he always used to say that with.

“If you can, I want you to take it. Just please,” Kevin pleads. “Please let Dan live, and you can do whatever you want, I promise.”

The fog in his head quickly morphs into a storm as Daniel shakes his head violently, swaying as he tries to ignore the splitting pain. “Don’t do it. It’ll kill me.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what else I can do,” Kevin sobs. “I can’t watch this anymore. I can’t.”

Daniel's arm goes numb, and for a moment, he finds relief in the blissful lack of pain. But as his arm slowly extends out in front of him and reaches for Kevin, he tries to drag himself away, even as his vision clouds and his head spins with the pain.

“Kevin, don’t you fucking dare!” Daniel screams.

_**“Let him.”** _

“No! No I—”

He can’t let Kevin go through this. He can’t watch Kevin lose. He can’t watch Kevin’s eyes glaze over as he hears Magistrex’s words, and falls ill with temptation. He can’t bear to imagine Kevin as a lifeless husk of his former self, sitting alone in the darkness and watching Magistrex live the life of a man he doesn’t recognise. He won’t forgive himself if he ever had to look into Kevin’s eyes — ones that don’t even belong to him — and act as if he never left. He wouldn’t be able to act like Kevin didn’t bear this burden for him. He couldn’t pretend like this wasn’t his fault. He couldn’t pretend Kevin was still with him.

But Kevin extends his hand, and Magistrex takes a hold of his wrist, a bruising grip linking him and Kevin together.

Daniel feels his own conscience fade, like a jumbled mix of code being uncorrupted. But it is in no way a relief. It blitzes through his mind and ignites every nerve in his body, feeling only the sensation of fire. Nothing else.

He tries to scream. He’s not even sure if it works, but he tries to pull away — to separate the link so he can be free of the suffocating fire which engulfs him entirely — so he can save Kevin from the hell he knows too well. 

His entire arm crackles with pain, like blinding lightning after roaring thunder. He focuses as hard as he can on loosening his hand; letting it slip from Kevin’s wrist, and feeling the loss of sensation as he loses contact.

To be honest, at this point he doesn’t even care if it kills him. Dead or alive, Kevin doesn’t deserve the suffering Daniel went through. He shouldn’t have to feel as if he needs to save him. He should get to live as himself, regardless of if Daniel does at all.

* * *

Dan wakes up. There is no pain, no numbness. Just his body. Everything around him seems uncannily normal, too. The view of his bedroom is far less charming from the floor.

He can hear birds chirping outside. There’s also a slight wind that rustles the leaves of trees nearby. Then, a whimper — unmistakably Kevin’s.

Dan sways as he climbs to his knees, swinging his head around in desperate search of his friend. Kevin leans against the wall just by the entrance to the bathroom, mumbling something to himself.

His eyes are closed.

“Kevin—” Dan says, much quieter than he wanted to. He crawls towards Kevin quickly, grabbing his shoulders firmly. “Kevin, open your eyes.”

He whimpers more, flinching away from Dan's touch.

“I promise, you will be okay. Just please open your eyes,” Dan begs.

Kevin shakes his head. “No... I don’t—”

“It’s me. Dan. The real Dan,” he says as he rubs Kevin’s arm. “I know he’s scary, but please listen to me instead. Open your eyes.”

Kevin holds his breath, his chest still shaking as his eyes open slowly. His lower lip trembles as he stares at Dan, absolutely bewildered.

“Dan, he...” Kevin whispers, running his hands through his hair. “He looks just like you.”

Kevin breaks into a hysteria as Dan pulls him into his arms, trying as hard as he can to soothe his sobbing friend. Tears well up in his own eyes as guilt makes a home in Dan's mind. As he goes to blink them away, he sees something in the distance.

Behind his eyelids.

He hears a faint yelling, too. It’s his own voice; he recognises it immediately, but not as the one he uses. Dan feels his feet settle on the ground in the land within his mind, and he takes a strong step forward.

“Hey!” He calls out. The yelling does not stop.

“Stop that!” He yells again, and the blurry figure turns to face him.

“What do you want?” It shouts. Even with the large distance between the two, Dan can see the annoyance on his face.

“Come here. Now,” he demands.

“No,” the figure responds.

“Do it!”

“No!”

“Get over here right now or I’ll fucking make you!” Dan screams with all his might. The figure freezes for a moment, before he turns and walks towards Dan.

He looks exactly like Daniel. Dan knows he named himself Magistrex.

“Are you happy now?” Magistrex growls in a low tone, glaring up at him.

Dan glares back. He doesn’t give him the satisfaction of an answer, though. Magistrex doesn’t deserve it. Instead, he opens his eyes and looks at Kevin, who stares right back at him in disbelief.

“It’s okay,” Dan says soothingly. “He can’t hurt you.”

Kevin feels so small and frail in Dan's arms as he desperately clings to his shirt, whimpering his unneeded apologies, thank you’s and other expressions of fear. Dan holds his breath and tries desperately not to cry. Kevin doesn’t need to see that right now.

As Dan gently rubs circles on his friends back, he soothingly whispers to him, “I won’t let him hurt you.”


End file.
